Election Countdown 2012: Human Rights Envoys Call on US Officials to Explain the Use of Excessive Force on Occupy Protesters, and More

In today's Election Countdown 2012 news: Two UN human rights envoys called on US officials to explain the use of excessive force on Occupy protesters, the National Research Council links fracking injection wells to earthquakes in New York, the Wisconsin recall vote produced another significant discrepancy, and more.

D – 81 and counting*

Occupy. "In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, two [UN Human Rights] envoys called on U.S. officials to 'explain the behavior of police departments that violently disbanded some Occupy protests last fall' and expressed concern that excessive use of force 'could have been related to [the protesters'] dissenting views, criticisms of economic policies, and their legitimate work in the defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms.'" Hillary? OWS: "A scrappy crew of Occupy Wall Street veterans that call themselves 'Occu-pirates' sailed out of the 79th Street Boat Basin once again on Saturday morning." Crew met at Zucotti Park. Some ages: 65, 42, 28.

Montreal. "I wanted to document it and I was pissed off. I was really surprised (by how widely it spread)" (picture) "I had to go out to the Grand Prix as a volunteer to pick up garbage from Scouts who were running an ecological consortium at the request of the Grand Prix. ... A police officer approaches me, and tells me up front I have no business here. It goes without saying that during this time, none of the fifty police officers around me bothered to search any of the young hotties with their the Gucci handbags. Finally, when they are about to arrest me, a Grand Prix official passing by tells the police officers that yes, the ecological consortium did exist and I could enter the site without problems. I was thus able to spend the day picking up crap after other, more 'welcome' people." FECQ president: "'Given the repeated failures of negotiations and the withdrawal of the government's offer, it has become clear that only a neutral and credible process such as mediation would allow the two parties to orchestrate a real end to the crisis.' The public appeal comes after two letters demanding arbitration were sent by lawyers to the government. FECQ is giving the government 72 hours to reach a decision on the matter."

FL. Horse race: "Television talk show host Cristina Saralegui [often called the "Hispanic Oprah"] announced her endorsement of President Barack Obama, saying this weekend that there's too much at stake not to speak up when Hispanics could 'very well decide the next election.'" Voting: "The Fair Elections Legal Network, Project Vote, LatinoJustice and the Advancement Project to sue SoS Ken Detzner, claiming [FL's] effort to 'systematically identify and remove alleged non-citizens from the voter rolls (is) in violation of the National Voter Registration Act.'"

NY. Fracking, summarizing National Research Council "[I]t's not so much taking the gas out that causes earthquakes, but injecting liquids back into a well. [D]isposing of fracking wastes is going to be a lot more difficult, and so are some other hoped-for projects like carbon sequestration." Best way to sequester carbon? Leave it in the ground. Fracking: "The group brought a map showing where bans and moratoriums already exist." Corruption: "The contract to cater at the Empire Room was awarded to Charlie's at the Fair, but according to the State Comptroller's office, the company was given an unfair advantage and insider information about the bidding process. The contract wound up being voided...."

OH. Fracking: "Hundreds of people gathered in OH's capitol city on Sunday to protest hydraulic fracturing. The protesters marched through downtown Columbus and temporarily occupied the front hall of the Ohio Statehouse. The group Don't Frack Ohio organized the protest and three days of workshops,

WI. "The recall vote in Wisconsin produced another significant 7% discrepancy between the unadjusted exit poll and the so-called "recorded vote." In actual social science, this level of discrepancy, with the results being so far outside the expected margin of error would not be accepted." (DCBlogger)

* 81 days 'til the Democratic National Convention swills energy drinks on the floor of the Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC. The symbolic number of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. 'H' and 'A' are the 8th and 1st letter of the alphabet, respectively.

This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.

Election Countdown 2012: Human Rights Envoys Call on US Officials to Explain the Use of Excessive Force on Occupy Protesters, and More

In today's Election Countdown 2012 news: Two UN human rights envoys called on US officials to explain the use of excessive force on Occupy protesters, the National Research Council links fracking injection wells to earthquakes in New York, the Wisconsin recall vote produced another significant discrepancy, and more.

D – 81 and counting*

Occupy. "In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, two [UN Human Rights] envoys called on U.S. officials to 'explain the behavior of police departments that violently disbanded some Occupy protests last fall' and expressed concern that excessive use of force 'could have been related to [the protesters'] dissenting views, criticisms of economic policies, and their legitimate work in the defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms.'" Hillary? OWS: "A scrappy crew of Occupy Wall Street veterans that call themselves 'Occu-pirates' sailed out of the 79th Street Boat Basin once again on Saturday morning." Crew met at Zucotti Park. Some ages: 65, 42, 28.

Montreal. "I wanted to document it and I was pissed off. I was really surprised (by how widely it spread)" (picture) "I had to go out to the Grand Prix as a volunteer to pick up garbage from Scouts who were running an ecological consortium at the request of the Grand Prix. ... A police officer approaches me, and tells me up front I have no business here. It goes without saying that during this time, none of the fifty police officers around me bothered to search any of the young hotties with their the Gucci handbags. Finally, when they are about to arrest me, a Grand Prix official passing by tells the police officers that yes, the ecological consortium did exist and I could enter the site without problems. I was thus able to spend the day picking up crap after other, more 'welcome' people." FECQ president: "'Given the repeated failures of negotiations and the withdrawal of the government's offer, it has become clear that only a neutral and credible process such as mediation would allow the two parties to orchestrate a real end to the crisis.' The public appeal comes after two letters demanding arbitration were sent by lawyers to the government. FECQ is giving the government 72 hours to reach a decision on the matter."

FL. Horse race: "Television talk show host Cristina Saralegui [often called the "Hispanic Oprah"] announced her endorsement of President Barack Obama, saying this weekend that there's too much at stake not to speak up when Hispanics could 'very well decide the next election.'" Voting: "The Fair Elections Legal Network, Project Vote, LatinoJustice and the Advancement Project to sue SoS Ken Detzner, claiming [FL's] effort to 'systematically identify and remove alleged non-citizens from the voter rolls (is) in violation of the National Voter Registration Act.'"

NY. Fracking, summarizing National Research Council "[I]t's not so much taking the gas out that causes earthquakes, but injecting liquids back into a well. [D]isposing of fracking wastes is going to be a lot more difficult, and so are some other hoped-for projects like carbon sequestration." Best way to sequester carbon? Leave it in the ground. Fracking: "The group brought a map showing where bans and moratoriums already exist." Corruption: "The contract to cater at the Empire Room was awarded to Charlie's at the Fair, but according to the State Comptroller's office, the company was given an unfair advantage and insider information about the bidding process. The contract wound up being voided...."

OH. Fracking: "Hundreds of people gathered in OH's capitol city on Sunday to protest hydraulic fracturing. The protesters marched through downtown Columbus and temporarily occupied the front hall of the Ohio Statehouse. The group Don't Frack Ohio organized the protest and three days of workshops,

WI. "The recall vote in Wisconsin produced another significant 7% discrepancy between the unadjusted exit poll and the so-called "recorded vote." In actual social science, this level of discrepancy, with the results being so far outside the expected margin of error would not be accepted." (DCBlogger)

* 81 days 'til the Democratic National Convention swills energy drinks on the floor of the Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC. The symbolic number of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. 'H' and 'A' are the 8th and 1st letter of the alphabet, respectively.

This piece was reprinted by Truthout with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source.